Almost completely unable to defeat the frontal battlefield, the Ming army could only pin its hopes of defeating the Haihan army on night attacks. Perhaps the battlefield environment with poor visibility can greatly reduce the power of Haihan's guns.
If the Haihan camp can be overwhelmed at night and cause greater casualties to the Haihan army, the crisis in Cangzhou can be resolved immediately, and even hands can be freed to rush to the direction of Tianjin.
But when they actually took action, the Ming army suddenly discovered that the Haihan army's night fighting ability was much stronger than its own, and the gap between the two sides was even greater than during the day.
Just the layers of snake-shaped iron nets outside the camp were enough to make the Ming army complain endlessly. Regardless of whether it is a human or a horse, if you rush in, you will be wrapped in an iron net full of barbed blades, and you will not be able to escape for a long time. Even if he is not hit by a bullet, the many wounds on his body will lead to death from excessive blood loss.
The dark environment that the Ming army counted on did not make the Haihan army's shooting lose its accuracy. Illumination bombs were constantly shot into the air in Camp Haihan. The bright light after the explosion was very dazzling, illuminating a large area of the ground as if it were daytime.
The Ming army, which was originally hidden in the darkness, was instantly exposed and became a living target for the Haihan army.
The Ming army originally wanted to charge forward despite the hail of bullets, but the intensity of the Haihan army's firepower output could not be resisted by willpower. Coupled with the obstruction of fortifications such as iron nets and horse-blocking trenches, the Ming army's attack seemed very futile.
As the sound of cannons rang out in the Haihan camp, the Ming army realized that their opponents had deployed heavy weapons, and any further fighting would only increase casualties. It was basically impossible to break through the Haihan defense line, so they immediately retreated their troops and ended the night. Raid action.
Haihan did not dare to be careless. He was afraid that the Ming army might have an ambush in the dark, so he did not pursue it rashly.
After the Ming army retreated, Sun Bing immediately sent people to add several more fires outside the camp so that the observation post could get a better view and prevent the opponent from coming back.
It was not until after dawn that the Haihan army began to clean up the battlefield.
This night attack by the Ming army paid a heavy price. At least nearly a thousand corpses were left on the east and north sides of the Haihan camp, including a large number of cavalrymen who were knocked down together with their horses.
The cavalry can carry out night attacks, and their equipment and horses look good. It can be inferred that these unlucky ghosts who came to the door in the middle of the night are definitely considered elites in the establishment of the Ming army.
These cavalry did not have many opportunities to perform in yesterday's city defense battle, but they were sent away without a word, with almost no valuable results obtained. It is estimated that the Ming army generals in the city will also be disappointed with last night's rash decision. Feeling remorseful.
After a short rest, the Haihan Army launched an offensive against Cangzhou City again.
Shortly after the battle started in the morning, Sun Bing received a battle report from the direction of Tianjin. The troops led by Chen Yixin had successfully captured the Tianjin Acropolis.
Now that the Tianjin Acropolis has been broken, the Ming army's defense line must further shrink towards the capital. If the defenders of Cangzhou insist on defending the city and do not withdraw, they will soon fall into an isolated and helpless situation.
However, Sun Bing did not intend to give his opponents a chance to evacuate Cangzhou. He ordered to step up the siege and tried to eliminate the Ming army in Cangzhou within the territory of Hejian Prefecture.
On April 22, the defenders struggled to hold on until the third day. After all, they could not withstand the onslaught of artillery fire from the Haihan Army outside the city. The south and east sides of Cangzhou City were defeated successively.
The Haihan army entered the city and quickly defeated the last few small Ming armies that tried to resist.
When most of the Ming army saw that the city was broken and could no longer resist, they fled from the west and north of the city. Although the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal in the west of the city had been cut off before the war started, there were still some small sampans belonging to the government parked along the river, which were used as escape tools by the Ming army who poured out of the west gate.
However, these small boats could not transport the swarming troops. Everyone rushed to the boats in a panic, and several small boats were overturned in the chaos.
There were also some smart people who found it difficult to squeeze into the boat, so they found a nearby wooden barrel and basin, jumped into the river, and used buoyancy to paddle to the other side of the river to escape.
The Ming army who fled from the north of the city had no natural chasm like the canal to escape, and most of them could only escape on two legs. But the Haihan cavalry followed them immediately and chased them for more than ten miles. They chased and fought and captured many more people.
After the troops regrouped, the results of the Cangzhou battle were gradually calculated.
The Haihan Army has wiped out more than 10,000 Ming troops in Cangzhou in the past few days. Although Sun Bing failed to complete Sun Bing's goal of annihilating the enemy in Cangzhou, his own force is limited and it is difficult to form an encirclement of Cangzhou. Such a result is also I can explain it.
Sun Bing currently has about 3,000 prisoners of war in his hands. However, since Cangzhou is a hundred miles away from the coast, these prisoners of war cannot be moved to the rear by sea for the time being, so they can only be imprisoned in Cangzhou first.
Fortunately, Cangzhou had built a large military camp for the Ming army that had gathered here before. At this time, it didn't take much effort to convert it into a prisoner of war camp.
There were more than 20 military attachés at all levels captured in this battle, including those from the Capital Command Department, the Guard Command Department, the local Qianhu Office, as well as the Ming Dynasty Ministry of War and the Fifth Army Commandery Office sent to supervise the battle.
The capture of so many military attachés not only meant military victory for the Haihan Army, but was also a very important source of intelligence.
Sun Bing could not wait for the Military Intelligence Bureau to submit its report and personally participated in the interrogation. Although some people are very stubborn and refuse to reveal any information, there are still some people who are greedy for life and fear of death and reveal the Ming army's defense plan in Hejian Mansion.
The Ming army actually had two defense centers in Hejian Prefecture, namely Cangzhou City and Hejian City, the administrative center. If Cangzhou was lost, the defenders would retreat westward to Hejian City to reorganize and continue to fortify.
Some Ming troops from Baoding Prefecture and Zhending Prefecture were also gathered in Hejian City, and their strength was only much larger than that of Cangzhou.
If the Haihan army goes north to attack Shuntian Prefecture, then the Ming army in Hejian Prefecture will attack to outflank Haihan's retreat.
If the Haihan Army wanted to attack Hejian City, they would have to continue marching more than a hundred miles westward and face a city that was as strong as Cangzhou.
This means that the logistics channels for the Haihan Army to obtain military supplies will be further extended. The one-way journey from the coast to the front line by carriage and horse will take about three days, and the risks along the way will also increase.
Haihan invested less than 5,000 troops in this direction, and there was no spare force to clear out the entire Hejian Prefecture. If the logistics supply line was stretched too long, he might encounter a sneak attack by a small Ming army.
In order to ensure the stability of this channel, the amount of transportation capacity invested in logistical equipment and the number of escort troops must be increased. But if we do that, the number of combat troops that can be deployed to the front line will be reduced accordingly.
Sun Bing could only send a telegram to Chen Yixin for instructions on whether to continue attacking to the west or go north to meet him at Shuntian Mansion.